17alpha-methyl steroids and process to make same



United States Patent Oh 3,133,913 170L'METHYL STEROIDS AND PROCESS TO MAKE SAME Romano Deghenghi, Westmount, Quebec, Canada, as-

signor to American Home Products Corporation, New

York, N.Y., a corporation oi Delaware No Drawing. Filed Sept. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 137,010

4- Claims. (Cl. 260-23955) This invention relates to a new method of preparing steroidal compounds having the formula W on y wherein X represents a member of the group consisting of hydrogen and methyl, to new compounds made by this method, and to intermediates useful in the practice of this method. This invention provides a new and improved method of preparing 17a-methyl progesterone, a highly active progestational agent when administered parenterally. It also provides a method of preparing 6a,17a-dimethyl progesterone which is a powerful oral progestational agent, substantially free. of androgenic effects, and effective in the maintenance of pregnancy. 6u,l7a-dimethyl progesterone may be easily dehydrogenated to 6-dehydro-6,17a-dimethyl progesterone (6, 17a-dimethyl-4,6-pregnadiene-3,ZO-dione) which is a Very effective oral progestational agent, substantially free of androgenic action and effective in the maintenance of pregnancy.

In the past, a 170t-IIlCthyl. progesterone has been available by a rather elaborate synthesis from 3fl-hydroxy- 17a-methyl 17,8-carbomethoxyandrost-S-ene, involving the steps of (l) vigorous alkaline hydrolysis, (2) elaboration of a A -3-ketone moiety, (3) reaction with oxa- 1yl chloride to prepare the corresponing acid chloride,

and (4) reaction with dimethyl cadmium to elaborate the conventional steroidal side-chain. In this way, 170:- methyl progesterone has been prepared, and in similar ways the corresponding Hot-methylated corticoids were also obtained.

I have found that 17a-methy1-3 S-hydroxy-S-etienic acid methyl ester 1) reacts with an excess of Grignard reagent 0 020m --orn I OH MgBr l ice (methyl magnesium bromid separated from the m Oppenauer oxidation Patented May. 19, v1964 e) at temperatures of about 50 to about 200 C., to form 17a-methy1 pregnenolone (II) in high yield. This is surpri expected because it is well-known react with an excess of Grignard tiary carbinols.

(IV) are actuall sing and entirely unthat esters normally reagent to form ter- Small amounts of the expected carbinol y formed in my case, but they are easily ajor reaction product, 17a-methyl pregnenolone (II), which is then, of course, easily con- 'verted to Una-methyl progesterone (III) by the familiar Oppenauer oxidation procedure.

If desired, the crude mixture resulting from the ,Grignard reaction, comprising the desired 17a-methyl pregnenolone and the copr oduced tertiary carbinol, may be subjected to Oppenauer oxidation and the oxidized products separated.

My new method may also be used to prepare the corresponding 6-methyl homologs of the foregoing compounds. Thus, compound I may be epoxidized to yield a a,6a-epoxide, V, which,

COaCI-I;

when treated with the methyl Grignard reagent undergoes methylation simultaneously at the 6- and 20-position to yield 3p,5a-dihydroxy,6/3-l7a-dimethylpregnane- 20-one VI plus minor amounts of the tertiary carbinol VII, 35, 5a,20-trihydroxy-6,8,17a,20-trimethylpregnane.

'CHa

VII

Compound VI may be converted easily to the corresponding 3-keto compound VIII by chromic acid oxidation.

VIII The latter may be converted to 613,17a-dimethyl progesterone (IX) by treatment with pyridine and thionyl chlo ride or to 6a,17a-dimethyl progesterone (X) by treatment with alkali. Either (IX) or (X) may be dehydroits iafiu-epoxide (V) with an excess of a methyl Grignard reagent at a temperature of about 50 C. to about 200 C.; surprisingly, this treatment results in the formation in good yields of steroidal ZO-ketones instead of the 20-methyl tertiary 20-carbinols which would ordinarily be the expected chief products.

This Grignard reaction may be conveniently effected by adding a diethyl ether solution of a methyl Grignard reagent, which may be methyl magnesium chloride, methyl magnesium bromide, or methyl magnesium iodide to a solution of the etianic ester in a suitable higher-boiling inert solvent such as tetrahydrofurane, benzene, dioxane, toluene, xylene, anisole, phenetole, a naphthyl methyl ether, etc., heating the mixture to distill oil the diethyl ether, and raise the temperature of the reaction mixture to the desired level. Heating longer than about one or two hours does not appear to improve the yield appreciably.

The following examples, which are intended to be illustrative only, show how my invention may be practiced.

Example I To methyl-3B-hydroxy-17ot-methyl A etienate [PL Plattner, Helv. Chim. Acta 31, 603 (1948)] 0.500 g. dissolved in 30 ml. dry benzene, there is added 10 ml. of a 3 M solution of CH MgBr in ether. Solvent is distilled off until the temperature of the liquid reached 70 C., and the mixture is then refluxed with stirring, under N for 3.5 hours. A saturated solution of ammonium chloride is added to stop the reaction, and the mixture subsequently extracted with ether, Washed with approx. 1 N hydrochloric acid or 10% sulfuric acid, approx. 1 N sodium hydroxide solution and water, to give, after drying and removal of the solvent, 0.410 g. of a crystalline solid representing a mixture of l7ot-methyl pregnenolone and 35,20-dihydroxy-u -bisnorcholane. l7a-methyl pregnenolone is purified by crystallization or chromatography or through the corresponding B-acetate, and isolated in about 60-70% yield.

Alternatively the crude mixture may be oxidized in presence of aluminum isopropoxide and cyclohexanone (Oppenauer oxidation) and the products separated by chromatography as illustrated in the following example.

Example II A solution of 1.00 g. of the crude l7a-methy1 pregnenolone (Example 1) in 50 cc. toluene is refluxed in the presence of 12 ml. cyclohexanone and 0.6 g. aluminum isopropoxide for one hour. A saturated Rochelle salt solution is added, the organic solvents eliminated by steam distillation and the residue taken up in methylene chloride to give 1.0 g. of crude substance which is chromatographed on 30 g. neutral alumina.

Petroleum ether-benzene (1:1) elutes 0.7 g. of crystalline 17a-methylprogesterone, M.P. 132-135 C.

Further eluates contain the by-product 17u,20-dimethyl-20-hydroxy-4-pregnene-3-one, M.P. 228-232 C., which, surprisingly, shows progestational activity.

Example III A solution of 10.0 g. of 3/3-hydroxy-l7a-methyl-5- etienic acid methyl ester in 20 cc. of chloroform was added dropwise, with stirring, while the temperature was being held between 2 and |2 C., to a mixture of 1.0 g. anhydrous sodium acetate and 10 cc. of a 40% solution of peracetic acid. The mixture was stirred for an additional two and one-half hours at 0 C., than extracted with chloroform, washed to neutrality with aqueous sodium bicarbonate solution and water, dried, the solvent evaporated to give 10.8 g. of a residue which was crystallized from methanol to give 6.0 g. of crystals, M.P. 167l72 C., representing the 3fl-hydroxy-l7a-methyl-5a,6a-epoxyetianic acid, methyl ester.

A sample was recrystallized for analysis, MP. 170- 5 171 C., [aJ -67.2 (1% in chloroform). Elemental analysis confirmed the assigned identity.

Example IV Example V To a solution of 840 mg. of crude 3,8,5a-dihydroxy-6/3, 17e-dimethylpregnane-ZO-one (VI) in 45 ml. pure acetone, there was added, while stirring at C., 2.5 ml. of an 8 N chromic acid solution. Stirring was continued for three minutes, the mixture was extracted with ether, washed with NaHCO solution and water to neutrality, the organic solvent evaporated to give 800 mg. of a crystalline product, M.P. 230-233 C., representing crude ot-hydroxy-6fl,17ot-dimethyl-pregnane-3,20-dione (VIII) which is conveniently converted to the corresponding 6,8, 17w or 6a,17a-dimethyl-progesterone as described in the following examples (VI) and (VII).

Example VI To a solution of 565 mg. of 5a-hydroxy-6p,17a-dimethyl-pregnane-3,20-dione (VIII) in m1. of pyridine, there was added at 0 C. while stirring, 0.6 ml. of thionyl chlo ride. After ten minutes the mixture was extracted with ether, washed to neutrality with 1 N HCl and NaHCO solution, the solvent evaporated to give 400 mg. of an oil which crystallized from ether to give a product, M.P. 118-126 C., representing crude 6,8,17a-dimethyl-progesterone (IX).

Example VII To a suspension of 770 mg. of 5ct-hydr0xy-6p,17a-dimethyl-pregnane-3,20-dione (VIII) in 50 ml. methanol, there was added 2.5 ml. of a 5% NaOH solution in Water. The mixture was refluxed under nitrogen for one hour, acidified with acetic acid, and evaporated to a residue which was taken up in ether, washed to neutrality with NaHCO solution and water. Evaporation of the solvent gave 746 mg. of an oil which was chromatographed on neutral alumina. Petroleum ether-benzene (4:1) eluted crystalline fractions of 6a,17a-dimethyl-progesterone (X), M.P. 137-140 C. (ether). A max. 239 m e=16,000.

Alternatively, 6,8,l7a-dimethyl-progesterone (IX) could be epimerized to 6a,17a-dimethyl-progesterone (X) by conventional acid or alkaline treatment. Further eluates contained the by-product 6a,17a,20-trimethyl-20-hydroxy- 4-pregnene-3-one, M.P. 175-178 C., which has proges tational activities.

Examples VIII to XXI These examples, summarized in the following table, show how to yield a 17a-methyl pregnenolone (II) is affected in preparation conducted along the lines of Example 1 by variations of reaction solvent, temperature, time, molar excess of Grignard reagent.

Mols OH3- Percent Expt. Solvent Temp, Time, MgBr per conver- No. 0. hrs. mol of sion of I steroid (I) to II Example XXII To a solution of 2.0 g. of 6a,17ot-dimethyl-progesterone in 60 ml. isobutanol there was added 1.6 g. of chloranil. The resulting suspension was refluxed for ten hours, then extracted with ether, washed with 10% NaOH solution and Water, dried, the organic solvent evaporated to give 1.8 g. of a yellow oil which crystallized upon addition of ether. One recrystallization gave 6,17-dimethyl-4,6-preg.- nadiene-3,20-dione, M.P. 138-140" C., needles from ether. x max. 290 III/1., a 25,000.

I claim:

1. The process of preparing 17a-methylpregnen0lone which comprises the steps of adding a solution of a methyl magnesium halide to a solution of 3,8-hydroxy-17ct-methyl-A -etienic acid methyl ester in an inert solvent, raising the temperature of the resulting reaction mixture to from about 50 to about 200 C., and thereafter recovering 17amethyipregnenolone from the reaction mixture.

2. The process of preparing 3fl,5a-dihydroxy-6p,l7adimethylpregnane-ZO-one which comprises the steps of adding a solution of a methyl magnesium halide to a solution of 3B-hydroxy-5u,6 y.-epoxy-l7u-methyl-etianic acid methyl ester in an inert solvent, raising the temperature of the resulting reaction mixture to from about 50 to about 200 C., and thereafter recovering 3,8,5a-dihydroxy-6fl,17adimethylpregnan6-20-one from the reaction mixture.

3, 6,l7adimethyl-4,6-pregnadiene-3,20-dione.

4. 3fl-hydroxy-5a,6a-cpoxy-17a-methyl etianic methyl ester.

acid

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,601,168 Plattner June 17, 1952 2,891,079 Dodson et al. June 16, 1959 2,970,156 Lincoln et al. Jan. 31, 1961 2,983,736 Georgian et a1. May 9, 1961 OTHER REFERENCES Miramontes et al.: J.A.C.S., vol. 82 (1960), pages 6153-55.

Fieser and Fieser: Steroids, Reinhold Pub]. Co., New York, 1959, page 563. 

1. THE PROCESS OF PREPARING 17A-METHYLPREGNENOLONE WHICH COMPRISES THE STEPS OF ADDING A SOLUTION OF A METHYL MAGNESIUM HALIDE TO A SOLUTION OF 3B-HDYROXY-17A-METHYL-$5-ETIENIC ACID METHYL ESTER IN AN INERT SOLVENT, RAISING THE TEMPERATURE OF THE RESULTING REACTION MIXTURE TO FROM ABOUT 50 TO ABOUT 200*C., AND THEREAFTER RECOVERING 17AMETHYLPREGNENOLONE FROM THE REACTION MIXTURE.
 4. 3B-HYDROXY-5N,6N-IPOXY-17A-METHYL ETIANIC ACID METHYL ESTER. 